School-desk



(No Moa-ei.)

W. L. STARKEY.

scHooL DESK.

No. 537,081. Patented Apr.v 9, "1895.

INVENTOH.'

Wl TNE SSE S.'

@MW/@V Q/ ATTOHNE Ys g- .PNFENT EF WARREN I.. STARKEY, or PATERsoN, NEW JERSEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part ofl Letters Patent No. 537,081, dated April 9, 1895.

Applicationvled August 6, 1894. Serial No. 519,547. (No inodel.)

companying drawings, and to letters of refer-i ence marked thereon, which form a part of -this specification. VMy invention is. an improved school seat1 and desk and has special' reference to mechanisms for quickly adjusting the seat and desk to the height of the scholars using them.

The invention consists in certain novel features which will be'described and claimed.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a school seat and desk constrncted in accordancewith my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same with a= portion of .the seat removed. 3 is a side elevation of one ofv the standards. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a part of the device looking'at the inner side of the standard. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section taken on the central line of Fig. t and Fig. 6 is a detail view of a portionof the clamp by which the desk is fastened tothe floor. v

The standard or leg ot is provided at its upper end with the central'open-ended slot b and the narrow beveled open-ended slots c on the opposite sides of the said slot b. One of the side walls of the open-ended slot b is'provided with a rack bar d, as clearly shown, the purpose of which will hereinafter appear. On the front edgevof the leg l provide an offset e which is constructed with slots f g and a rack-bar h ysimilar in construction to the slots b c and the rack bar d. Below the slots b f on the side of the standards I provide the lugs or stops 'Z j which are adapted to limit vthe downward movement of the desk and the 0, thereby guiding the desk in its vertical movements and preventing lateral movement of the same. The two arms Z are held together by a connecting rod n and nuts o on the ends of the same. This rod n passes through a hollow shaft p which is journaled inthe arms Z and projects beyond one of them so as to be engaged by a wrench or crank-arm in the'operation of the device. Near the ends of the hollow shaft V`I key thereto the pinions q which engage the rack bars CZ as clearly shown so that when the shaft is rotated the pinions will be caused to move over the'rackbars and the desk thereby adjusted vertically.- Ratchet wheels or disks r are also keyed on the hollow shaft and may be formed integral with the pinion. These ratchet wheels are engaged by balanced pawls s which are pivoted on the inner side.of the arms Z and are provided with lugs t adapted to impinge against pins aon the standards and be thereby automatically disengaged from the ratchet wheels.

-llhe front of the desk forms a part of the back of the seat as shown at fn.4 The lower portion of the seat back is formed by slats w secured to the upper ends of the sliding plates or standards x and the seat' proper y is composed of slats secured to brackets or arms z which` are hinged to the sliding plates x in the usual manner. The sliding plates x are held to the legs or standards ot by means of headed studs engaging the slots g and are held together by means of the slats w and a connecting rod A, similar `to the connecting rod n. They are adjusted vertically by means of a hollow shaft B, and pinions C engaging the rack bars h, as will be readily understood. The arms Z and when in their lowest positions, impinge upon 'thelugs or stops j which serve to prevent the said arms from being lowered to too great an extent. also serve to relieve the strainon the rack bars and pinions when the desk and seat are in their lowest positions. The pinions and ratchet wheels are inclosed by covering or fender D to prevent the clothes of the pupil being soiled by the oil, dac.

The legs or standards o. are provided at their lower ends with the horizontal flanges E which are adapted to pass under the brack- These stops ets F secured to the door of the school-room and provided with longitudinal slot G in which thumb screws H are mounted, said thumbserews bearing on the flange E of the legs or standards and thereby securing the desk in position.

The operation of the device is thought to be obvious. Vhen it is desired to raise the seat or the desk the crank handle is engaged over the end of the shaft and then rotated which will cause the pinion to move over the rack-bar and raise the desk or the seat, as the case may be. Should it be desired to lower the desk or the seat it is raised to its fullest extent so as to cause the pawl s to impinge against the top pin u and be thereby disengaged from the ratchet wheel. The reverse movement of the shaft will be permitted and the device can be lowered until the pawl strikes the lowestJ pin aand is thereby thrown into engagement with the ratchetwheel after which the device is raised to the desired point. It will thus be seen that the desired adjustment can be quickly accomplished without the handling of any part except the operating crank arms.

The manner of clampingthe legs tothe floor permits the desk to be quickly changed or secured in position and will be found especially advantageous when it is desired to remove a broken desk.

The desk top may be stationary, as indicated, or it may be made to fold over a pocket,

' as may be preferred, and the adjustmentcan the same time, it can loe quickly adjusted in 4d accordance with hygienic principles.

I do not intend to limit myself to the precise construction shown and described, as various alterations can be made without departing from the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In an adjustable desk, the combination with the legs or standards each being provided with two vertical open ended slots and with a centrally arranged vertical open ended slot having one of its sides provided with a rack-bar, of the desk proper, arms depending vertically from the desk and arranged ontside of the legs or standards, a series of headed pins projecting inward from said arms and adapted to slide in the open ended slots of i the legs, a hollow shaf tj onrnaled in said arms,

a pinion secured at each endof the shaft and adapted to engage the rack bar, a ratchet fixed on said shaft, a pawl engaging said ratchet and` pivotally secured to the depending arm of the desk, said pawl being provided with a projection, and a series of two pins se cured to the legs or standards in the path of the ratchet and adapted to operate the pawl when the desk is raised or lowered to its highest` or lowest position respectively, all said parts substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of July, 1894:.

W. L. STARKEY.

Witnesses:

JAMES J. VAN HovaNBEe, WM. D. BELL. 

